PRINCESS Anne has praised home carers for helping to fill in the "blank spots" of the welfare state.

The Princess Royal heads a trust which supports the thousands of unpaid carers around Britain.

She was in Daresbury, near Warrington, yesterday to celebrate a é250,000 donation for the trust - the largest it has ever received.

The princess addressed carers at a hotel in the town, saying she wished to direct a "special thankyou to anyone who's caring for somebody at home".

She said: "I know it can be hard caring 24-hours a day and it can seem that you don't get any time off, so this should be an extra special day for you."

Sympathetic

"I can't imagine how hard it must be to give up your lives and your jobs to care for someone else."

The 50-year-old princess set up the Princess Royal Trust for Carers in 1991 to provide drop-in centres and advice. It provides outreach centres across the north west, including two in Manchester.

Steve Morgan, who retired as chairman of Redrow Homes in 2000 and donated the é250,000 to the trust, set up the Morgan Foundation to fund charitable work around the north west, particularly for children.

He said of the trust: "It not only supports families and the elderly but it has a particular focus on young people."

The money will go into funding a new drop-in centre at Ellesmere Port and a new outreach officer.

The princess chatted with carers including Margaret Gibbetts, 71, who said: "She seemed to be very interested in how we were caring for our loved ones and she was very sympathetic." Margaret is caring for her son David, 38, who has spinal injuries.